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Live Your Best (Holiday) Life: Week 6

Welcome to the first full week of December! Usually the only thing I don't like about this time of year is the weather, but it's been amazingly gorgeous around here lately. I know winter is inevitable (here anyway) but I'll appreciate these warm, sunny days while they're here!

Thanks to everyone who has been participating in the Live Your Best (Holiday) Life challenge with Alexandra and me! Not only has it been fun to see how other people are making the prompts work for them, it's also been so much fun getting to know some new to me blog friends in the process. Now, on with the prompts for this week and a recap of last week.

{What is #LYBHolidayL?}

Alexandra, of Simply Alexandra, and I created a challenge for the months of November and December to help us focus on self-care, contentment, and gratitude this holiday season. Each day we have a prompt to inspire creativity, organization, and a sense of peace during this often crazy time of year.

Every Monday we'll each share the week's prompts on our blogs, with ideas for ways to incorporate them into your life. We'd love for you to join in! You can find the full list of prompts on Instagram, and also at the bottom of this post. Be sure to tag your posts with #LYBHolidayL so we can see them.

{Highlights - Week 5}

- I wrote a thank you note to Violet's daycare provider that I plan to include with her Christmas gift. I don't think I tell her enough just how much we appreciate her!

- Aaron and I talked about Christmas traditions and I started making some plans, like getting pajamas and books for Jona and Violet on Christmas Eve.

- Instead of a coloring break, I took some time to work on a puzzle that we started over Thanksgiving break. I love jigsaw puzzles!

- I picked up some Buttery Caramel k-cups for the coffee maker at work, which worked out perfectly since my home coffee maker died the next day. RIP Mr. Coffee.

- I enjoyed some hot chocolate with Bailey's and whipped cream, and shared a (non-spiked) mug with Jona. His was "too hot" so he had lukewarm chocolate instead. :)

- I shopped my closet and put together a few holiday looks using clothes I already have. I plan to share a blog post with some details and more outfit ideas.

- We started the tradition of an Advent calendar with books, activities, and treats. So far we've read Carl's Christmas, decorated the house for Christmas, and Jona got a little wooden ornament to paint.

{LYBHolidayL - Week 6}

December 4 - Take a holiday stress off your plate. I've been thinking about this one, and it's really hard to do! I love this time of year, so I tend to want to do everything because I find most of my "holiday obligations" to be things I truly enjoy, like making cookies and decorating for Christmas, or making the Advent calendar I've been talking about. However, one thing I really don't enjoy is gift wrapping. I'm terrible at it; I never get the size quite right and my corners are anything but sharp. I see other people's pretty packages with cute little toppers and I want to do that too, but realistically, it all ends up in the recycle bin anyway right? So I bought some pretty paper to use, but otherwise I'm keeping it simple. And also hoping Aaron will do most of the wrapping. :)

December 5 - Set a holiday budget and stick to it. Uh oh. This one is not going so well. Aaron and I need to sit down and make a plan before I get too off track. I've found lots of things on sale, which is good, but I keep thinking of more people to add to the shopping list, or just one more thing to get Jona... I need this prompt.

December 6 - Get a new planner or organize your calendars for 2018. I'm such a paper planner lover. For 2017 I kept a bullet journal, but I plan to change it up a little next year. While I do love the flexibility of a bullet journal, I didn't love not really having a good way to look ahead, and I also didn't like having to do all my own formatting. I know that you can make it as simple as you want, but at the end of the day I wanted something pretty, but I didn't want to take the time to make it that way. However, while I'll keep a more traditional planner for day-to-day planning, I'm going to continue to do a bullet journal-style planner for a reading journal.

December 7 - Try a new crock pot recipe. I admit that I failed to plan ahead and look at the week's prompts, so I don't have a slow cooker meal planned for this day. However, I did make this Balsamic Roast Beef for the first time for dinner last night, and it was delicious!

December 8 - Have a gift wrapping party. Like I said, I don't love wrapping gifts. However, with a glass of wine and good company, it's not so bad. If Aaron and I treat gift wrapping like a little stay-in date night, I think it could almost be fun. But I'm still going to keep it simple.December 9 - Make a gingerbread house. I've never done one of these but I've always wanted to. I think Jona would love this, and I always see cute little kits everywhere.

December 10 - Make a blanket fort and watch a holiday movie. Jona is getting to an age where he's starting to really love movies (sometimes a little too much...). I look forward to watching the Polar Express, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and Charlie Brown's Christmas with him. Hopefully I can find one of those on demand or on Netflix for us to watch!

I'd love for you to join in for any or all of these, and be sure to tag your posts with #LYBHolidayL so we can see them. Don't forget to follow along on Instagram too (@shealennon and @simplyalexandra12).

Also, plan to join Alexandra and me for our Advent Calendar and Holiday Traditions Linkup on December 13! More details here.

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I’m an ice cream-obsessed working mom living in the suburbs of Kansas City (go Royals!). I created Shea Lennon as a fashion and lifestyle resource for busy, stylish women on a budget. I share articles that showcase affordable, attainable style, book reviews, and other lifestyle ideas to help you live a more creative life.